Civil rights organizations today asked the California Supreme Court to block a November ballot initiative that would restore the state’s ban on gay marriage, arguing that it was not drafted properly.

In court papers filed with the state’s high court, civil rights lawyers insist that backers of the ballot measure did not follow proper procedures for amending the California constitution. The measure would amend the state Constitution to limit marriage to a union between a man and a woman.

The 55-page petition to the Supreme Court argues that the measure circulated in the spring to potential voters was misleading because it was filed before the justices invalidated existing laws banning gay marriage. The civil rights groups, including the National Center for Lesbian Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union, are asking the Supreme Court to take the measure off the fall ballot until the legal challenge can be resolved.

“We filed this lawsuit because the sponsors of the initiative haven’t followed the very Constitution they’re trying to change,” said Stephen Bomse, a lawyer assisting civil rights groups in the case.

The Alliance Defense Fund, one of the groups backing the ballot measure, said the groups are “desperate to evade democracy.”

“The opponents of marriage are willing to use any means necessary to impose their will,”said ADF attorney Glen Lavy.

The state Supreme Court in May struck down California’s ban on same-sex marriage, finding the laws violated the constitutional rights of gay and lesbian couples. The ruling went into effect earlier this week, allowing hundreds of same-sex couples across the state to obtain marriage licenses.

Backers of the initiative could not be immediately reached for comment.